Improving your SEO results with Google+

Since the advent of Facebook, twitter and other social media platforms, many people will have love/hate relationship with Google+. On one hand, you may not be a huge fan of Google+ platform because it’s just another social network to manage. On the other hand, Google tops in the search engine world. Any time you and your business can do something to get into the good books of Google.

Is Google+ worth your time?

In December 2014, Google+ ranked as the3rdmost popular social networkin the world. Even today many of their users aren’t active. That doesn’t mean it’s not relevant, because the brand Google has so much power over your business to succeed online. Most importantly Google owns Google+ and hence it wants you to use the social network to expand your online presence.

Google has enticed content developers and business owners to use Google authorship as a way to stand out in search results. It encourages websites to use Rich Snippets & Structured Data.

There’s more to keep up with when it comes to Google, but no matter which platform you use, having a Google+ presence will boost your search engine rankings.

Here are the steps to get your Google+ presence up and running so as to increase your spot in search engine result pages or SERPs.

Set up your profile – Creating your profile is the first step towards boosting your search rankings. It’s not just enough to create a personal profile but you should also aim to create a profile for your business.

Complete your profile –This certainly takes some time and effort, because these profiles are extensive. Most importantly this profile will be used by all Google products, so it’s worth the effort. Fill in both your personal and business profiles as soon and complete in all respects. These pages will act as micro-sites for your company and help your presence online.

Get active – Create segments or circles, add people who are relevant. You can create multiple circles (groups) viz. client circle, vendor circle, industry or vertical based circle. Explore communities that already exist in Google+. There are many active members in smaller Niche communities. By getting involved with these groups online could open up new doors for your business. Posting relevant content consistently on Google+ helps a lot. There is a far greater potential for your content published on Google+ to appear in search engine results.

Add Google+ to Your Website – Google through its algorithms tries to understand whether the content you are publishing is relevant, has value and interesting. Add share this button to your website, so that your website visitors are able to share your posts on Google+.

Google’s Joan Stewart recommends that your participation on Google+ is part of what it considers when ranking your website in SERPs. He says, if you ignore Google+, then Google will ignore you.